


(Save) The Birds and the Bees

by montynavarrno



Series: The Corps of Discovery [2]
Category: 18th Century CE RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Kiss, M/M, Sacagawea: Actual Badass, listen Lewis/Clark may be tagged but this story is really about sacagawea bc reasons, mentions of past suicide attempts, the reasons are teenage hormones ngl, this sounds like a relationship fic but it's not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 03:53:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8313007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/montynavarrno/pseuds/montynavarrno
Summary: Trying to save a small piece of land is significantly harder when your friends who are supposed to be helping you are just figuring out their new relationship.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this fic is going to start out sounding like it's about Lewis and Clark's new relationship. It is actually about Sacagawea trying to save the habitat of a rare species of bird. And it's a good place for bees too. Lewis and Clark are supposed to be helping her, but they're kind of distracted by each other. Yeah
> 
> Also, Lewis has attempted suicide twice by this point. He managed to work his way into training his emotional support dog, Scannon, because he's scientifically minded and likes to figure out animal behavior, and he's less depressed when he's doing science (which is very much like historical Lewis). Technically, he and Scannon are both in training. Furthermore, he's been trying out different anti-depressants, and while he's a lot better, not everything is perfect. His mental health will be touched on occasionally.

The realization that they were into each other wasn't exactly shocking. After all, the only other friend they had was Sacagawea, and she was in sixth grade. She had also recently told them that she leaned more towards girls, anyway. Lewis had thought it was strange that she was so comfortable with it at such an early age, but he figured that was probably just because his anxiety wouldn't let him be gay.

It also made him stop talking to Clark for a week after he came out, because obviously Clark couldn't be best friends with a gay guy.

Clark showed up at his house after a week of Lewis not responding to his texts and made Lewis tell him why. When Lewis revealed his reasons, Clark said "Dude, I'm bisexual" and that had reassured Lewis that Clark didn't actually hate him. 

That had been the summer between their freshman and sophomore year of high school.

Sophomore year was a tough one. The only bright side was Lewis getting into a program to help train emotional support animals. This was darkened a little bit by the fact that the reason he was in the program was because he needed an emotional support animal himself. He was training a Newfoundland puppy named Scannon to help him with his own mental health.

By the time summer came around, though, things were looking up. Lewis and Clark had ended their sophomore year with 4.0s, and Sacagawea had been awarded for being the top of her sixth grade class. And with summer came more time for their research project, which was trying to protect the nesting ground of the endangered loggerhead shrike. 

And much like the blossoming of the new baby birds, it was a time for relationships to bloom as well.

It was a year after they had come out to each other. They didn't know it. It wasn't an incredibly important event to them. It was just one more step in their friendship. 

This particular day was going to be one they remembered, however. 

Clark had just finished writing an letter to their mayor detailing why the city shouldn't build new apartments in the shrike nesting area.

"If this doesn't warrant at least a reply, I don't know what will," said Clark, grinning at his laptop.

Lewis came over and leaned over Clark's shoulder, reading what he had written. "You're right. This letter is a work of genius. That whole point about rodent population was a work of art. Be proud of yourself," he said, and then kissed Clark's cheek as he stood up to go check over his own presentation that went more in depth about the ways that the insect and rodent population would be affected if the shrike's nesting area was overtaken. He didn't even realize what he'd done.

Not until Clark said "You know, if you wanted to kiss me on the lips that'd be cool too."

Lewis whipped back around to look at Clark. Clark's cheeks had a light dusting of pink, but he was looking at Lewis determinedly. So Lewis, despite the screaming in his head that he was completely misreading what Clark was saying to him, walked back over to his best friend and kissed him on the lips.

There weren't any fireworks. It didn't feel like a whole new feeling. It was just a new way of expressing their love for each other.

A new, fun, physical way of expressing their love for each other. Their kiss was quickly turning deeper and more heated. And while it still felt natural, and Lewis could definitely see continuing it in the future, right then his brain was yelling at him that now was not a good time. So he broke the kiss and pulled away, leaving Clark looking a bit confused.

"It's not you, I swear. I just can't go any further with this. The idea of having sex right now is- well, I don't actually know, because my brain is just screaming 'NO SEX NO SEX NO SEX' which isn't really a very descriptive feeling. I'm sorry," he said, looking sadly at Clark.

Clark tugged him closer and wrapped his arms around him. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. When you're ready, we'll try it. We can try as many times as we need to. There's no rush." Clark kissed Lewis softly.

"Thanks," said Lewis.

"But, I hope making out isn't off the table as well, because I was really enjoying that," Clark said, grinning devilishly.

"Oh, definitely not," said Lewis, and crashed their lips together, their letter and presentation forgotten.

* * *

 

It was 10 o'clock. Lewis and Clark were officially two hours late. 

Now, if it was just that their projects were taking longer than expected to write, Sacagawea would understand. But they hadn't even sent her a text, which was very rude, and also led her to believe that something was up. 

That's why she was was standing on the doorstep of Clark's house, having just rang the doorbell. Clark's mother opened the door. 

"Hello, Sacagawea, dear! Are you here to see Meriwether and William?" his mother asked.

"Yes. They were supposed to bring their projects over to my house at 8. But they didn't, and they won't answer any of my messages," Sacagawea said.

"I haven't heard a peep out them since dinner. They may just be absorbed in their work. Knowing William, they probably found a whole new project to work on that somehow relates to this one. You are still working on the loggerhead shrikes, right?"

Sacagawea had to blink to clear her mind of how weird it was to hear Clark being referred to as 'William.'" Yes, we are. We need to get Clark's letter to the mayor in two days, and Lewis' presentation needs to be done the day after that. My part of the presentation is already done. We have to go over all three parts to make sure we have all of our facts correct, and that we haven't overstated or understated how important the shrikes are. Either one could be disastrous for our campaign."

"Well said, Sacagawea. You know where William's room is. You can head on up there now."

"Thank you, Mrs. Clark!" And with that, Sacagawea ran up the stairs to get to Clark's room. The door was shut, which wasn't unusual. Both Lewis and Clark worked better with minimal distractions. She knocked on the door.

Clark opened it, looking very disheveled. Looking past him, Sacagawea could see that Lewis was laying on Clark's bed, equally disheveled. She rolled her eyes. "Really? You put off our project so that you could have sex?" she said as she pushed past Clark.

Clark made a sound of protest as he shut the door behind her. "We didn't have sex!"

"A make out session isn't any better, Clark," Sacagawea said.

Lewis sat up on the bed. "In our defense, this is the first time we've done anything like that."

"And I'm glad you've taken that step in your relationship. No, really, I am," she said when the two looked at her incredulously. "I've watched you guys fall in love for years. But couldn't it have waited until after you guys finished your parts of the project?"

"HA! Joke's on you. Getting our stuff finished was exactly what prompted all of this to happen," said Clark.

"Great. So, you couldn't have sent a text saying 'hey we're done, can you come over and check stuff really quickly so that we can make out after you leave?'"

"It was a spur of the moment thing, Janey. We realized how we really felt about each other." Clark looked at Lewis with love in his eyes.

"Bullshit. You guys have known you're in love with each other for at least a year now. You're just excited that you've chosen to upgrade to a physical relationship as well." Sacagawea's tone was venomous, but her eyes shone with happiness for her two friends. She really was excited for them.

"Okay, you're right. Now let's check this stuff over. I'm worried I may have been slightly off with the increase in the grasshopper population," said Lewis, and with that they got down to business.

* * *

They were supposed to deliver the letter to the mayor together. But when Lewis and Clark were half an hour late, Sacagawea sighed and delivered it herself. 

She really didn't blame them. It had been an emotional year for all three of them, and she could understand why they were so desperate to be near each other. But still, she wished they could have been there to back her up when she delivered the letter to the mayor's assistant. She was not very intimidating, being so short. Having her close to six foot tall friends would have really made her case stronger in her opinion.

She met them for lunch anyway. Lewis apologized by buying her chocolate ice cream.

"So, I saw Deputy Mayor Morris give the letter directly to Mayor Livingston. I feel like that means we have a pretty good chance of our letter being read. What do we do if he contacts us?"

"Well, I think that our first step is to say that we have a presentation with facts to back us up. We should see if we can arrange a time to meet with him and present our case. Livingston is a pretty moderate guy. I feel like we have a pretty good shot at this," said Clark, stuffing his face with a burger. He always ate like his food was going to run away.

"I don't know. There's probably some sort of economic boost from the apartments," Lewis said, looking doubtful.

"But if we declare it a sanctuary for the shrikes, we can get funding from the EPA. Plus, if we save a large enough chunk of it we could theoretically use it as base to study the habits of the shrikes and use it for research, which would give us even more money," Clark pointed out.

"We should use that pitch, I think," said Sacagawea. "Besides, the economic damage from increased rodent and insect populations would be bad too."

"Good thinking, Janey! See, this is why you should be the leader of the Corps of Discovery," said Clark.

"Clark, there's three of us. We're all the leaders," said Lewis dryly.

"Okay, but Janey should be the lead leader. The head leader? The Supreme Leader?"

"Clark, dear, stop trying to make any title happen. It's not going to happen."

"Fuck you, Lewis."

"Oh, this is getting serious. You guys are using each other's last names."

"We always use our last names," Clark frowned.

"Not as often since the second incident." They all frowned at the mention of Lewis' second suicide attempt. Sacagawea pushed on. "It's kind of cute, actually."

"Thanks. But really though. You've taken the lead on this, Sacagawea. I think that you should be the main presenter if we get to talk with the mayor," said Clark seriously. 

"I agree. Will and I have been... a little distracted since we got together. You're the one making sure everything happens on time. We couldn't do this without you."

Sacagawea teared up. "Thanks, you guys. That means a lot to me."

"Okay, bring it in," said Lewis. They all shared a group hug.

* * *

"... and that, Mr. Mayor, is why we need to protect the shrike nesting territory." Sacagawea clicked through to her last slide and looked at the mayor. 

"Well, kids, I have to say I'm extremely impressed. That was a well planned and informative presentation. And I am in agreement. All progress on the construction will be halted, and we'll start looking into doing environmental protection in that area immediately."

Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea cheered. "Thank you, Mr. Mayor!"

"No, thank you. We need more bright and investigative kids like you. If it's alright, I'd like to contact the local newspaper and run an article about you three."

They looked at each other. 

"Um... sure," said Lewis.

"Very well then. I'll call you and let you know when the interview is going to happen. In the meantime, go celebrate!" And with that, the most harrowing hour and a half of their lives was over. 

"We did it!" crowed Clark as they exited the building.

"Yeah we did! And we're going to be interviewed!" exclaimed Lewis, throwing his arms around Clark and Sacagawea. 

"How should we celebrate?" asked Sacagawea.

"I'm thinking pizza. I bet my parents will buy it!" said Clark excitedly, and they set off to Clark's house, laughing and cheering as they went.

* * *

Sacagawea had to go home at ten that night. Her parents wanted to celebrate with her. She didn't mind. Lewis and Clark had been slowly edging towards each other all night. They were so in love it was a little bit disgusting. Sacagawea could practically see the love oozing from their bodies. It was not a pleasant image. And anyway, she knew she would have the last laugh.

When her mom texted her to let her know she had arrived, she hugged Lewis and Clark goodbye. "Great job today, guys," she said. 

"Come on, you talked most of the time. It was all you," said Clark. 

"Whatever. We all worked hard on this. And with the way things are going, it looks like you two are going to be working with some hard-ons." She giggled as Clark gasped and Lewis turned bright red.

"Janey!" Clark said in a scandalized voice. "Lewis and I would never celebrate protecting the environment like that!"

"Sure," said Sacagawea, grinning. "Just make sure you use protection when you're celebrating protecting the environment."

"Enough! You're in seventh grade! You can't know about sex!" Lewis said, putting his head in his hands.

"I know enough to know you're going to have it!"

"Okay! Bye Janey! See you tomorrow!" Clark said as he pushed her out the door.

"Seriously though. Use protection."

Clark glanced behind him to make sure Lewis wasn't paying attention. "I got condoms last week. Don't worry, Janey. We'll be safe."

"As safe as the loggerhead shrike nesting grounds are!" she said, loudly enough to make sure Lewis could hear her.

She laughed as she heard Lewis' scandalized gasp when she walked out the door. It was fun with Lewis and Clark dating.

* * *

The interview was two days after their victory. 

"We all worked together. We're very committed to saving the environment," said Lewis, answering the reporter's question.

"I can tell. So, who was the leader of this project?"

"Sacagawea was." said Clark without a moment of hesitation. "Lewis and I can be a bit distracted sometimes. Sacagawea kept us on track. She even did most of the presentation herself. We would be lost without Sacagawea."

Sacagawea smiled at Clark. He smiled back. 

"Well, I think that's all the questions I have for you. I hope to interview you three again in the future. I'm willing to bet we'll be seeing more amazing things from you in the future."

"Thanks!" said Lewis.

The reporter left. 

Sacagawea turned to her friends. "I don't know about you, but I just want to watch a stupid documentary and relax for the rest of the day."

Lewis and Clark nodded. 

"Want to watch that one documentary about the conspiracies about the founding fathers?" Sacagawea asked.

"Hell yeah," said Clark.

"I'm in," Lewis agreed.

And so the friends went back to Sacagawea's house, proud of what they had accomplished. After all, it's not every day three teenagers help save the habitat of an endangered species. 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> lmao didn't say anything about bees in this because i had to change it halfway through because the bird i was originally doing wasn't really located in new york
> 
> still makes for a good title tho


End file.
